25 July 2010

Macaroon Perfection

I did it. I finally did it. I finally got my macaroons to work - just as I wanted them to!

I was determined not to do another post until I had some macaroons worth posting - in the last month I've done salted chocolate, chocolate and peanut butter, choc-chai and cinnamon - and every time until today, I've ended up with those cracked little hemispheres. But these, the second shot at the salted caramel, were absolutely perfect - crispy shell, a melt in the mouth centre and that lovely little 'pop' on the sides.

There are a couple of secrets that I have discovered:

You MUST keep mixing even after it is combined if the mixture is too thick. This will loosen up the egg whites and give you that lovely crispy shell. Keep mixing until small peaks in the mixture relax and settle out.

Preheat your oven to 220 C. Then as soon as the macaroons go in, turn it down to 180 C.

When the macaroons come out of the oven, lift up the corner of the baking paper and pour some water underneath and tilt the tray to spread the water. This will let you lift off the macaroons easily.

The recipe is exactly the same as this post - the only difference is the baking technique - start the oven at 220 C, then turn it down to 180 C for 10 minutes.